California lawmaker accused of sexually assaulting lobbyist in a bathroom

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Lobbyist Pamela Lopez makes a public allegation of lewd behavior by Assemblyman Matt Dababneh, D-Encino, during a news conference Monday, Dec. 4, 2017, in Sacramento, Calif. Lopez alleges that Debabneh followed her into bar bathroom and performed a lewd act in front of her in 2016. Debabneh denies the accusation. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, left, administers the oath of office to newly elected Assemblymen Matt Dababneh, D-Van Nuys, second from left, Sebastian Ridlley-Thomas, D- Los Angeles, third from left, and Freddie Rodriquez, D-Chino Hills, right, during ceremonies at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Jan. 6 2014. The trio were elected to the Assembly in special elections replacing lawmakers who were elected to other positions. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

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SACRAMENTO — Casting aside her fears that she would be professionally shunned, a Sacramento lobbyist on Monday named Assemblyman Matt Dababneh as the lawmaker who exposed himself to her in a hotelbathroom last year and blocked her from leaving.

“As scary as it is for me to step forward,” lobbyist Pamela Lopez said, “I can’t have it on my conscience that I didn’t do everything that I could do to stop him from hurting other women in the future.”

Dababneh, a 36-year-old unmarried Democrat, is the third sitting lawmaker to be publicly accused of sexual assault or harassment in recent weeks. The accusations have surfaced since the launch of a powerful “We Said Enough” campaign by female lobbyists and legislative staffers in Sacramento and other statehouses demanding an end to the mistreatment of women in politics.

Activists say sexual harassment — from politics and academia to entertainment, media and tech — has for too long been kept a secret, shared strictly through private “whisper networks,” because the consequences of reporting it are too great.

Lopez, 35, had previously told with her story without naming names. On Monday, she revealed Dababneh’s identity during a news conference at her firm, K Street Consulting. She did so, she said, even though he told her at the time not to tell anyone and despite receiving a cease-and-desist letter from his attorney, Patricia Glaser, on Friday, demanding that she stop repeating her “false claims” to the press.

Lopez also formally reported the incident to the Assembly Rules Committee on Monday, which plans to hire an outside investigator. She and her attorneys said her case will mark the first true test of the Legislature’s handling of sexual misconduct claims since leaders promised to improve a system widely mistrusted by victims of sexual assault and harassment.

Dababneh, who represents the San Fernando Valley, released a statement denying the allegations. “I am saddened by this lobbyist’s effort to create this falsehood and make these inflammatory statements, apparently for her own self-promotion and without regard to the reputation of others,” he said. “I look forward to clearing my name.”

Lopez isn’t the only woman to accuse Dababneh of misconduct. Beside her on Monday sat Jessica Yas Barker, a former congressional staffer who described pervasive harassment and inappropriate behavior by Dababneh in 2008, when they both worked for Southern California Congressman Brad Sherman. She said Dababneh, who was Sherman’s district chief of staff, mocked her clothing, showed her a stash of condoms he kept in his desk drawer and bragged at events about his sexual prowess — pointing out “who he had slept with, who wanted to sleep with him.”

“It was pretty much an open secret in the San Fernando Valley that this was how Matt behaved,” Barker said.

Barker said she told friends and political acquaintances about Dababneh’s behavior but did not report it to the congressman before she quit her job. “It didn’t feel worth the trouble,” she said.

In a letter to Assembly Rules Committee Chairman Ken Cooley, Lopez wrote that she and Dababneh were among the guests celebrating the upcoming wedding of mutual friends in Las Vegas in January 2016. When she went to the bathroom, she wrote, he blocked the door, dropped his pants, masturbated and urged her to touch him.

“It was a terrifying experience,” she wrote. “During the time he blocked me in that room, my instincts were focused on escaping without physical contact and in a way that would not cause a scene.”

Lopez said she had met Dababneh only a few times before the party, and that they had not exchanged more than a few words in greeting on the day of the attack.

Cooley released a brief statement saying that an outside investigator will be hired and that he encouraged Lopez to make a criminal complaint, a step she said she is still considering. “I am grateful that she came forward with her complaint,” he said.

Legislative Women’s Caucus leaders released a statement calling the allegations “disturbing” and pressing for the findings to be made public.

Dababneh is the third legislator to be accused of sexual misconduct. Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, another San Fernando Valley Democrat, announced his resignation last week on the eve of a first-of-its-kind hearing on sexual harassment in Sacramento. Seven women have accused him of groping or other unwanted advances. Sen. Tony Mendoza, a Democrat from Los Angeles County, was stripped of an influential chairmanship last week amid a Senate investigation into his conduct toward young interns in his office. Mendoza said he will cooperate with the investigation and that he has been directed not to comment on the allegations.

Loyola Law Professor Jessica Levinson, an ethics and election law expert who has been following the We Said Enough campaign, said the climate in Sacramento appears to be changing. “I actually do believe this is becoming a movement now,” she said. “This feels different to me.”

Hours after Lopez’s news conference, some already were calling for Dababneh to step down. Late Monday, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon announced that Dababneh would be temporarily stepping down as chair of the banking and finance committee while the investigation goes forward.

On Monday, Lopez said she found strength in the “collective action” of women who had come forward in recent weeks and decided to name her assailant.

“I want to stand with them,” she said, “and show that there is a path to stepping forward and seeking justice and seeking correction so that our workplaces will be safe for us, so that we don’t have to choose between keeping a job and putting food on the table.”

Katy Murphy is based in Sacramento and covers state government for The Mercury News and East Bay Times, a beat she took on in January 2017. Before that, she was the news organization's higher education reporter, writing about UC, CSU, community colleges and private colleges. Long ago, she covered Oakland schools and other K-12 education issues.

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